


Extending the Olive Branch

by GeminiAlchemist



Series: Uniting Homes [2]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Camilia is trying to be a better mom, Eda is a better mom than she thinks, Gen, Luz is technically in this, shhh she's asleep, while not intended to be shipping I know you guys can't help it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:40:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26670799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeminiAlchemist/pseuds/GeminiAlchemist
Summary: Camilia has found herself living in a strange, new world, but at least she has her daughter back in her life. Sure, things between her and the Owl Lady are a bit tense, but hopefully that isn't something that can't be fixed with a little talk.She can try to be nice, and forgive. For Luz's sake.
Series: Uniting Homes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1940611
Comments: 10
Kudos: 316





	Extending the Olive Branch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Raphael_Antonello](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raphael_Antonello/gifts).



> The reception for the last fic was so great, that I just had to get this followup out for you guys. Once again, the greatest of thanks to my beta reader and editor, Raphael_Antonello. Go read his stuff! 
> 
> This story takes place maybe an hour at most after the previous one, so if you haven't read that, I'd recommend that you read it first for this fic to make the most sense.

Late into the evening of Grunstober 13th, in the woods right outside the town of Bonesborough was a small house. This house was guarded by a rather pesky house demon and was the home of the formerly most Powerful Witch on the Boiling Isles, her sister Lilith, The King of Demons, and as of today, two humans. The only humans on the Boiling Isles, in fact, and the two of them had a very eventful day.

After successfully stealing the Portal Door from Emperor Belos’ castle, Luz Noceda learned the door was half-broken: she could no longer return to Earth, but objects from Earth could enter the Boiling Isles. One of these objects was her mother, and after a heartfelt reunion with Camilia, no one could blame Luz for falling asleep into her mother's arms, where she got the best rest she had in the past three months.

Luz now rested on Camilia's lap, her soft snores filling the room as her mother brushed her fingers across Luz's hair. It had grown longer since the start of summer, enough that she could tuck it behind Luz's ears. It reminded Camilia of just how much time passed since they had last seen each other. She wondered if Luz had decided to grow it out, or if she was so focused on getting back home that she neglected to get it trimmed.

“That’s just like her,” Camilia said, her voice a soft whisper. She shook her head slowly. “Always obsessing on her personal projects. She must get it from me…”

Camilia let out a shaky breath. She'd feared earlier today that she would never see her little girl again, that Luz was lost to her forever. Yet here she was, in another world, with Luz sleeping on her lap. It seemed too good to be true, and Camilia felt that at any moment, she’d wake up on Earth in an empty, suffocatingly quiet house that hadn't seen Luz in months. That she’d never know the warmth of her little girl again, or put a smile on Luz’s face.

For now though, this was real. This was reality. Luz was safe, here on her lap, and Camilia resisted the urge to embrace her for fear that Luz would vanish into thin air.

“Ah, _mi mija._ If you were awake, I’m sure your heart would break right now,” said Camilia, wiping away a tear. She sniffled, doing her best to compose herself. After their conversation earlier, the last thing Camilia wanted was Luz blaming herself.

Taking a deep breath, Camilia distracted herself by studying the Owl House.

The living room was quite cozy, not overly large but spacious enough that Camilia could pace around with plenty of room to spare. A number of tables held books, lamps, and half-forgotten dishes covered in crumbs. A record player rested on a nearby desk for easy listening, while a chest stood against the walls like pirate treasure begging to be opened. The sofa was a scarlet shade of red that matched the curtains, even if it had seen better days. The floor was made of oak, and the green carpets offered a nice contrast to the room’s warm colors.

This was where Camilia’s familiarity faded, however, and the truly bizarre began. For instance, the coffee table at Camilia’s feet was covered in magical curios she didn’t recognize, or items that resembled trash from stuff like ping pong paddles to the inner electronics of a VCR. Ancient weapons, animal skulls, and even a foam finger hung off the walls, and books, garbage, crumpled paper balls, garbage, the blueprints to an ancient castle, and even more garbage littered the floor.

There was little rhyme or reason to this chaotic madness, yet Camilia sensed that each item was carefully collected and preserved by a loving owner. An owner who, in fact, had framed her own wanted poster on the wall with an absurdly high bounty. Camilia had to admit, the artist really captured Eda’s likeness, from her silvery-gray mane of hair to her wild eyes and golden fang.

“It’s like I stepped into _mi tía’s_ old place, minus the cats,” Camilia said, idly stroking Luz’s head. Although the comparison wasn’t flattering, Eda did strike Camilia as a hoarder. Even if Eda’s main source of income was selling these ‘human artifacts,’ was there a need to haphazardly store them all over the house?

That line of thinking led Camilia to another, namely how Eda would earn a living with the portal destroyed? If Camilia was going to live at the Owl House, she would need to find a job, especially if Eda was temporarily unemployed. Perhaps she could apply for a nursing position, but would her medical skills be useful to the witches here? A witch like Eda certainly looked human, if the pointy ears were overlooked, but surely there were other differences?

“I wonder if they offer night classes here?” Camilia said to herself, before a series of metallic clangs and crashes came from the kitchen. Someone shouted in a language Camilia didn’t understand, but the sound of profanity was universal. Camilia quickly covered Luz’s ears as she remembered that the Owl Lady was cooking dinner in the other room.

Camilia felt very conflicted over this Eda woman. On one hand, she kept Luz here without ever giving Camilia so much as a notion of her daughter’s whereabouts. Even if Eda never anticipated losing the portal door, that meant she was responsible for Luz’s disappearance and all of Camilia’s stress and heartache.

On the other hand, when Luz was trapped in this alien world, Eda had opened her home to Luz and treated her like her own. Camilia couldn't overlook that, and besides, Luz clearly adored the gray-haired witch. That had to count for something.

And speak of the devil, for that was when Eda stepped out of the kitchen. The gray-haired witch wore a stained apron over her red dress and held a wooden spoon dripping with a gravy-like broth. Eda cast her gaze over to the couch and spotted the sleeping Luz.

“Huh, so that's why she didn’t show up. Normally I have to beat Luz off with a stick to finish cooking. That kid’s got a healthy appetite for a teenager, I tell yah.” Eda let out a playful snort. “You know how kids are.”

Then the Owl Lady froze, as if only now realizing who she was talking to. Eda made a half-turn and pointed over her shoulder to the kitchen.

“I'll just, uh, finish up in here. Cannot let the stew burn! Why don't you wake up Luz so you two can both get some grub?”

“Miss Eda? Wait.” Eda froze mid-step. If Camilia could see Eda’s face, she would have seen the Owl Lady’s eyes nearly bug out of her skull. “Please, come sit with me for a moment.”

Eda blanched at the suggestion, her pale face somehow growing paler. Things had been pretty tense when they met earlier, yet Camilia was inviting to sit with her? It went against all of Eda’s instincts as a wild witch, and for a moment, Eda thought of walking away.

However, Eda knew how important Camilia was to Luz, and if Luz knew that bad blood existed between the most important women in her life, the young witch-in-training would stop at nothing to fix it. Even if it inevitably led to disaster. So, with a sigh, Eda did as Camilia asked and sat down by her. The least she could do was listen to what Luz’s mother had to say.

“Uh, look, it's just Eda. And if this is about stepping on your toes by implying that I think of Luz as my kid, I apolo–”

Camilia raised a hand to stop Eda, and gave her a patented nurse smile. If she was going to have to live here, she may as well extend the olive branch now.

“It's okay, I understand the feeling. I think... I think Luz has been very lucky to have you in her life these past few months.”

That wasn’t what Eda expected to hear. The Owl Lady blinked in surprise.

“Really? I thought you'd be furious at me for keeping her around. I wasn’t in any rush to send her home, and because of that it's my fault she was stuck here in the first place.”

Camilia nodded her head. “Oh yes, I do lay some blame on you. It will take… time to forgive your role in all this. You could have sent her back. And Luz would have been upset, yes, but she would be safe. But knowing Luz, she would have waited right outside your door until you opened it again to come right back.”

“Yeah, she's a persistent little thing.” Eda smirked. “She would have worn us both down until she could learn magic, no matter what we wanted her to do.”

“What I am thankful for is that you looked after Luz. While you didn't send her back, you also didn't need to care for her. But you did. You've taken care of her all these months, you fed her, clothed her, put a roof over her head. You even sent her to school.” Camilia reached out and clasped a hand around Eda’s, giving the bony hand a gentle squeeze. “You cared for my little girl, and as her mother, I appreciate that more than words can say.”

Eda gave the first genuine smile Camilia had seen since the two women met.

“Well, I can't exactly call myself Mom of the Year either.” Eda brushed a hand through her silvery-gray hair. Her golden eyes stared into someplace unseen, like she was remembering every smile and tear Luz shed these past few months. “I'm rather glad you chose to stick around. Luz needs her actual mother in her life. I did my best, but I’ve never been cut out for motherhood. Heck, I ended up being a lousy teacher too! As much as I hate it, Hexside taught Luz more than I ever could.”

She gazed softly at Luz's snoring form. Gently, Eda stroked her head.

“In the end, this girl ended up teaching me more than I ever taught her.”

“So, why did you take her in?” Camilia asked, making Eda look back up with a confused frown. “If you never wanted to be a parent or a teacher, what compelled you to take in _mi mija_?”

Eda shrugged.

“Dunno. Maybe I saw in Luz a kindred spirit. And besides, who can say no to those big, adorable eyes?”

Eda smirked at first, but it quickly melted away as she explored her thoughts more seriously.

“I think... I think I saw a lot of myself in the kid. Luz felt like an outcast with a load of expectations dumped on her. Expectations that told her that she wasn’t good enough, that she had to throw away what made her happy to please them. The kid wanted to get away from that, to do what she wanted, learn what she wanted. Even if that meant learning it from me, a crazy old hag who lives in the woods!”

A sharp laugh escaped Eda and she slapped her knee. Perhaps now wasn’t the time to make jokes, but Eda was nothing if not irreverent.

“I basically did the same thing when I wasn't much older than her! How can I not relate to that? Granted, I was motivated by a curse that turned me into a dangerous monster, but I never much liked conforming to society anyways. Even if I wasn’t cursed, I cannot imagine my life would have turned out all that different. Maybe that makes me selfish, but eh, sometimes you gotta be selfish to find happiness in this or any world.”

Camilia clasped her hands together, her gaze lowered.

“I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit, Eda. Luz clearly looks up to you. While you may not have taught her much magic, I’ve never seen her so confident before. She’s made friends, real ones who she loves. And she loves herself for once. I’m sure you taught her to appreciate her own worth more.”

Camilia smiled and rubbed her eyes. No, now was not the time to get teary-eyed, Luz was bound to wake up soon.

“She also told me who knitted that cape for her, and how you used your remaining magic to save her. You saved my little girl, Eda. Thank you, thank you for that.” Camilia put a hand on Eda’s shoulder with gratitude in her eyes. “I think she helped you grow as well. It doesn’t matter who taught who about magic. What’s important is that you helped each other grow as people.”

Camilia paused for a moment. She bit her lip, and bowing her head, she confessed, “You've certainly been a better parent than I've been lately.”

“Wait, come again?”

“I spent the last three months worried sick about Luz. I assumed the worst. That she was kidnapped, or dead… or that she ran away from home.” Camilia gulped hard and took a breath to steady herself. “As far as I knew, those were the most likely options. That she was taken from me, or she no longer wanted to be around me anymore.”

Camilia sniffled, and her hands combed through Luz’s hair to anchor herself once more.

“I would gladly keep Luz safe and never see her again over her being hurt. Even so, I woke up every day and wondered if she left because of me. Looking back at my actions, it seemed likely. There were plenty of times I was short tempered with her, or tried to stifle her creativity.”

Camilia gripped her hands tightly until her knuckles went white. Her voice remained soft and steady, but the sheer amount of self-frustration in her words made each syllable hit hard and like cold hail.

“I even sent her to a camp to change who she was as a person. What kind of mother does that to her own child? In a way, she did run away from me. She ran away from a home that didn’t accept her, and stayed with you.”

As Camilia finished, she wiped away a stray tear or two. She barely kept herself together while she spoke, only to be pulled out of her frazzled mind by a gentle hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Eda, who flashed her a comforting smile.

“She always intended to come back, Cam. Sure, Luz may have technically run away, but it was only to chase after something she loved, not to escape from you. She was really torn up when she thought she wouldn't see you again. You mean the world to that girl. Just look at what she did for the chance to see you again!”

Eda leaned back in her seat and gave Camilia a fond smile. “I don’t know if anyone ever told you this, but your kid has a big heart. If Luz learned how to value herself from me, then she got her big heart from you.”

The Owl Lady froze, recalling where she was and who she was talking to. She was acting far too sappy for the most wanted criminal on the Boiling Isles, and to the mother of her apprentice no less. Eda could only hope and pray Camilia didn’t repeat these words to Luz, it wasn’t often that Eda got so mushy-mushy about her feelings.

Rising from her seat, Eda coughed into her fist and stomped off towards the stairs.

“Anyway, why don't you wake up the kid while I get King, so we can all eat. It’s been a big day for us all, and I don’t know about you, but I’m starved. Maybe we can eat something before it runs away again?”She flashed Camilia another smile, though this one far more mischievous and exposed her golden fang.

Camilia chuckled, to which Eda responded wryly with, “Oh, Luz thought I was joking the first night too. The appetizers escaped through the window before I came in to get you. You'll get used to it, trust me. That, or you'll starve.”

Eda marched up the stairs, presumably to awaken the slumbering demon, leaving the mother with her still sleeping daughter. Camilia felt some tension leave her body now that she had a moment to talk with the witch. “I can see why you took a liking to her, _Mija._ Maybe I misjudged Eda?”

No sooner had she spoken those words when Eda’s voice shook the Owl House as she yelled for King to wake up. This caused Luz to stir, and the young girl moaned in her half-awake state. Flinching at the ruckus, Camilia added, “But that doesn’t mean living here will be all sunshine and rainbows either.”

At least Eda saved her the trouble of waking Luz up.

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you guys like this one as much as the last. I intend to keep writing new fics for this series, and even have plans to have Camilia meet several other characters in each one that follows. My hope is to get one out every week or two, until I burn out like I did with Little Witch Academia and disappear for another two years.
> 
> I'm also making plans for an Amphibia fic in the future, so if any of you happen to be fans of that, I hope you'll check it out if I ever get around to writing it. And for those of you who haven't seen Amphibia, check it out, it's an amazing show!


End file.
